


The Land of Sanguis

by cosmoticsunflower



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Leith - Freeform, M/M, Vampire AU, klance, smut later on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-17 14:03:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13660503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmoticsunflower/pseuds/cosmoticsunflower
Summary: “Keith–”Before he could get a word out, the red paladin was sprinting off in horror. He’d killed a creature for its blood. He was seen.





	The Land of Sanguis

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I actually wrote this a loooong time ago now, but decided to start uploading it now. Hope you enjoy! – Mari xx

Team Voltron had stopped at planet Sanguis, despite the eerie name. There was a distress signal, and they had made a promise to check out each and every planet that raised awareness to their presence. As they landed and made their way out, they lacked a greeting.

“We should check for life. Pidge, Lance, and Shiro, go together. Keith, go with Hunk. Coran and I will scan the planet via the castle.”

The paladins all nodded, heading off in their respective directions.

 

Within thirty minutes, the mission couldn’t be going any worse. Not only were the lions far from the paladins, but they all got split up. Keith heard crackling pierce through his headset before Shiro’s voice came through, a bit louder than average. “Found Pidge. We’re headed to the castle!”

“Be careful. The Galra are surrounding the castle,” Allura said.

A boisterous boom clapped through the air causing Keith to flinch, turn, and flee from his spot, slicing a robotic Galra soldier along the way. His heart pounded as he made his way across the rocky, desert-like hills. His foot stepped up onto a ledge as he boosted himself upwards and on top of a rock. As soon as he did he found a creature storming towards him. The eyes glowed a deep red, the hair long, and the body proportionate to a human’s. The male began sprinting the opposite direction, all while shouting to the others.

“What the hell is this thing?”

“It seems to be Galra, but I’m not sure exactly what it is. I’ve never seen anything like it,” came Coran’s voice.

“Well, that’s helpful, isn’t it?” Keith replied with a hint of snark.

Suddenly he felt himself get shoved from the back, causing him to catch his foot on the rock and stumble forward. “Shit!”

The creature grabbed him by the shoulder, spinning him around roughly before landing a hard punch to the gut. Keith felt the air expel out of his lungs. His hand came to his throat as he wheezed in some air. The Galra then kicked him. The noiret went flying backwards, his head smacking against a rock in the process. He let out a groan, scrambling to his feet as quick as the pain would allow. He gripped his bayard hard, feeling it transform into his signature sword.

The Galra hissed, beginning its approach. Keith began walking forward, one foot at a time. He had to be careful. This was an unknown creature, and he’d be damned if it got the best of him. As he came within a couple feet he whipped the sword to the side, narrowly missing the enemy. He swung again, this time slicing off a hand. It screeched angrily, smacking Keith roughly and sending him to the floor again. He could hear ringing in his ears and a hand rip off his helmet. He struggled to keep his eyes open and clear, feeling a sudden prickling pain in his neck.

Keith soon fell to the floor, unaware of the blood trickling down his neck. His vision was a blur, his hearing dampened as if he were underwater. He barely made sense of the creature having its head chopped off by a fellow paladin. Suddenly the teammate was by his side, saying something. Something he couldn’t figure out.

“–th! Keith!”

He let out a soft groan. He recognised that voice. He would no matter how lucid the world appeared. Keith felt Lance’s arm wrap under his back and lift him to a sitting position.

“Stay with me buddy,” came the blue paladin’s voice. “Guys, I need backup! Now!”

After that, the world went black.

 

Keith came to, surrounded by the all-too-familiar white interior of his room. He blinked slowly, attempting to regain his senses. He heard the door slide open, signalling someone’s arrival.

“You’re awake,” came Shiro’s voice.

The red paladin grunted in response. The oldest of the crew strode over to the side of his bed, placing down some a drink. “You really scared us back there,” he mentioned.

“It wasn’t my intention to get smacked around by that  _ thing _ .”

He made a move to sit up, letting Shiro help him with the task. As his back pressed against the pillows, he let out a soft groan, memories flooding back. He lifted his hand and covered his neck with it.

“Got a nasty bite there,” the older male stated. “Coran hasn’t seen anything like it, so he and Allura are doing some research. You, on the other hand, will be getting some rest.”

Keith scrunched up his nose in distaste. “But I could help. I’m fine, really.”

“Nope. Doctor’s orders.”

Letting out a sigh, he resigned to his fate. At least it could give him time to catch up on some needed rest, or maybe just go and train.

“Well, I’ve gotta go back. Get some rest, Keith.”

With that, Shiro waltzed out of the room, returning to the crew. The noriet glanced to the tea, lifting it off the table and to his lips. He tasted a sip, but immediately felt ill. “What the hell is this?” he muttered to himself, placing it straight back down.

He ripped the covers off of him, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed before standing. He felt his knees buckle under him slightly, so he gripped the wall to steady himself. Making his way to the bathroom was a surprisingly difficult trip to make. He opened the door, and slipped inside, closing the door behind him. The mirror glared back at him. He looked sickly pale, and his neck was covered in a bandage. Carefully pulling it off, he recoiled slightly at the sight of his bite. It was two holes, as if a vampire had bit him. That was a ridiculous thing to imagine, he thought. Any humanoid creature would leave at least two teeth marks. But not that deep.

Shaking his head to rid his thoughts, he lowered himself to open the counter cabinet and grab the first aid. It stung to clean but made him feel ten times better being sanitised and at less of a risk of infection. He then headed further into the bathroom, starting the shower and beginning to strip. Keith made his way into the hot stream of water, the pressure uncoiling in his muscles. He let out a soft sigh. He wasn’t sure how long he had been out. It could’ve been an hour, or it could’ve been days. He doubted it was the latter as he’d woken up in his room and not a cryopod.

After washing and letting the steaming water run down him like a cleansing spell, he finally shut off the shower and stepped out, wrapping a towel around his waist. He made his way into the room, picking out a black shirt and pants to shove on. As soon as he was done he made his way out of the room, cup of tea in hand. Maybe he’d offer it to Pidge. They might like it.

 

As it turned out, no one was occupying it. Keith made his way through to the kitchen to get himself a glob of goo. It wasn’t exactly appealing, but it wasn’t the worst thing he’d ever eaten. No, that was probably doughnuts. Those just did not sit well with him. He grabbed a bowl off the counter before moving to the goo station and plopping some in. He then returned to the dining table and took his usual seat. Spooning a bit out, Keith took a small bite of the goo. Instantly he felt nauseous. Of all the times he thought the goo was awful, he never thought it was enough to make him feel sick. Gagging, he spat the goo out and pushed it as far as possible from him. The next time he saw Coran he’d have to tell him how terrible the goo was.

He sighed lowly, taking a cup of water back to his room. He felt his throat prickle in thirst. He must have been out a while to be so thirsty. He took a seat on his bed before gulping down over half of the cup. It was fine to drink, but it did nothing to quench his thirst.

The door slid open then, revealing a disheveled Lance. “You’re awake!”

“Uh.. Yeah,” came Keith’s uncertain reply.

“I– Uh, they were really worried. I knew you’d just come back to bother me though,” he said.

Rolling his eyes, Keith got up and made his way to the sink. “Yep. That is exactly the reason I woke up. Just to bother you.”

“Aha! I knew it! You’re just too petty to not come back,” Lance proclaimed, following after the red paladin.

He filled his cup with water before shutting off the tap and heading back into his room, accidentally bumping into Lance along the way.

“Hey, watch it,” Lance muttered.

He smelled  _ nice _ . Like,  _ really nice _ . Keith blinked in confusion as those thoughts passed through his head. Since when did Lance smell anything particular. But it wasn’t an attractive-nice, it was.. No. It couldn’t be.

“Heeeello? Are you just going to ignore me?”

“Huh?”

“I was saying that Allura wants to run some tests on you sometime. Y’know, for that bite?” Lance said.

“Oh, yeah. That’s fine.”

With that he finished off his water yet again and made his way out to see Allura, forgetting his thoughts immediately.

 

“I heard you wanted to see me for some testing.”

Allura’s head whipped up before her eyes softened.. “Yes. How are you feeling?”

“Uh, fine. I mean, thirsty, but otherwise normal,” Keith stated.

Humming a sit, Allura stood from where she was sat, making her way over to where the pods surrounding the bow of the ship. “Well, we still aren’t sure what bit you. Some Galra-hybrid, it appears. But nothing besides a fictional creature bites like that.”

“A vampire, right?”

“Precisely. But that’s not possible of course,” the princess continued. “So we’ll have to run tests, see if we can extract any DNA from the wound site, as well as check your vitals.”

She motioned for Keith to step into the cryopod. As soon as he was securely inside one, she began checking vitals.

“Temperature.. A little lower than normal, but not sickly.. Pulse is regular.. Breathing is fine.. Blood pressure is normal.”

Within minutes he was out of the pod.

“I want to do a DNA check first, before any tests are done. Mind me swabbing at the wound a bit?”

“Not at all,” he replied, though it was pointless. She’d do it even if he said no.

Allura’s nimble fingers opened up a bag, bringing out a swab. She patted at the wound, causing Keith to flinch in pain ever so slightly.

“Sorry about that,” she apologised, placing the DNA inside a capsule. “We’ll get to work on that soon. For now, let’s run some tests.”

She ran three, to be exact. The first was a memory test to ensure he remembered everything; The second was a quick combat test to check his reflexes and abilities; And the third was ongoing. He was to check for any abnormal behaviours or thoughts and relay them back.

“It shouldn’t be too hard to do,” Allura had said, “So I trust you’ll let me know if anything odd comes up.”

The paladin agreed, but he kept his thoughts about Lance to himself. It was just a bit too private to share with the princess if you asked him.

 

“We’ll be landing on the planet Deline shortly. The Delinians are friendly, and allies of Altea. We need to make repairs, so I hope you’ll all understand.”

“Of course, princess,” Shiro replied.

While Allura may not have realised it, all of the paladins were glad to have a break, even if only for a short while. They prepared for landing as the castle descended. Already they could make out hundreds of Delinians awaiting their arrival. Soon the castle was landed and the inhabitants were making their way out and onto the land.

“Princess Allura! We are honoured to have you here,” a rather large and plump one said, bowing ever so slightly.

She returned the bow. “Queen Delanie. It’s been far too long since I have seen your people.”

“You could do nothing of it, dear. Do not worry yourself over formalities either. Delanie will do just fine for all of you.”

“Well, hello there Delanie,” came Lance’s voice.

Keith groaned, exchanging glances with Hunk and Pidge. They were about to be embarrassed. They knew it.

“Hello, paladin. What is your name?”

“Lance, but you can call me anytime,” he grinned.

There it was. A collective groan rose through the paladins.

“Anytime is a strange name, but very unique. It is a pleasure, Anytime.”

Lance’s face fell. “Maybe stick to Lance then..”

“Alright, Lance,” she said airily. With that she turned to the other paladins. “And who are these ones?”

“I’m Shiro, that is Pidge, that’s Hunk, and that’s Keith,” Shiro said, introducing each of them with a hand gesture.

“A pleasure, naturally,” Delanie replied. “I suppose we should get you settled in.”

 

They were given rooms, despite Allura’s protests. “We honestly are okay without rooms!” she had said.

Delanie wouldn’t have any of it and insisted upon allowing each paladin their own room. As Keith entered his, he started in surprise. The white walls turned into a rosy red, the floor morphing into black tiles, and the furniture changing to fit the theme. “What the–?”

“Our people are known for a chameleon-like abilities,” rang out a soft voice.

He flipped around to come face-to-face with a small Delinian. She was at least two heads shorter than him and dressed in a icy blue toga.

“I thought chameleons changed to camouflage though?”

“Oh, no! They change colours based on health and mood. All chameleons have a different ‘normal’ colour to them. It appears yours is red,” she finished, glancing around the room. “Mine is a light blue.”

Keith nodded a bit, unsure how to respond. “That’s.. cool.”

“Indeed. Oh, and my name is Asu. You are Keith, correct?”

“Yeah, that’s me,” he replied.

“Alright, good. If you ever need anything I’m just across the hall. Questions, comments, anything.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.”

With that they parted ways. Feeling a bit more at ease with his room, he shut the door and began taking a look around. It wasn’t a large room, but it was more space than he’d need. The paladin could easily exercise in the space at the very least. A sudden knock on his door released him from his thoughts. He opened it, immediately regretting it as Lance came barrelling in.

“Ooh, red, huh? Quite fitting if I do say so myself.”

Keith shut the door after him, considering he had no choice but to entertain the male for another few minutes. “Let me guess, you have a friendly neighbour named Asu?”

Lance wheeled around and blinked a couple times. “Yeah, how’d you know?”

“She came and said hi to me too. So what colour is your room?”

“Uhh, blue, duh,” Lance said, glancing to the side. “Our rooms are basically the same, aside from colour, of course.”

“Yeah, figures. They are guest rooms after a–”

A sudden searing pain hit Keith in a wave. He gripped his neck, leaning against the wall to hold him up with a gasp.

“Keith?! Keith! Are you okay?”

He let out a small grunt, sliding down the wall in pain. Lance came over in quick strides, leaning down to be eye-to-eye with him. He took his wrist in his hand and pried it away from his neck to inspect the wound. It appeared to be almost closed. Lance’s eyebrows knit in confusion as the wound slowly began healing itself in front of his eyes. Keith let out a small shriek, hands flying forward and gripping the front of the blue paladin’s shirt. Soon the healing was over and Keith went limp in his arms.

“Keith? Hey, wake up man,” Lance urged.

His eyes slowly opened, revealing their usual deep violet to appear a crimson red. Keith blinked, his eyes returning to normal. Lance shook his head, convincing himself he was seeing things. The red paladin could only think one thing. How damn nice Lance smelled. It was intoxicating, and unique. It smelled a bit like iron. Blood. Keith found himself salivating at the thought before he panicked over the thoughts, pushing Lance back and away from him.

“Get out,” he said, fear written all over his face.

Lance tilted his head slightly in utter confusion. “But Keith–”

“Get. Out.”

It almost sounded like a threat, causing Lance to finally get up and take a step back. “Alright, don’t get snippy,” he muttered, making his way out the room, leaving Keith alone to his thoughts.


End file.
